by Rebecca York
He tried to focus on her words. “Is this the spa?” he asked, feeling his own confusion.
Sophia made a strangled sound. “No. This is your cabin. You set it on fire.”
“Why would I do that?”
“To get away.”
The answer didn’t make sense. But he remembered that Jamie Ferguson had hid out in a cabin, and he’d died there.
She grasped him by the shoulder, shaking him. “Jason, you’ve got to start thinking straight. Jason.”
Yeah, right.
He didn’t even know who he was. Not for sure. But he was dimly aware that flames were licking through the wood above him.
Far away, he could hear women screaming.
“Jason. Please.”
Then a burning brand fell, landing a couple of feet from his shoulder.
Sophia cried out, and his mind suddenly snapped back into gear.
The cabin. The kerosene. The fire. He couldn’t stay where he was because he was putting Sophia in danger.
It took an enormous effort to get up, but he staggered to his feet, swaying on unsteady legs. He braced one hand against the tunnel wall to stay erect.
“Thank the universe,” Sophia whispered.
She draped one arm around him and grasped the flashlight in the other. Together they staggered down the tunnel with her playing the flashlight beam ahead of them.
As he moved away from the fire, his mind cleared a little.
He remembered the pain in his head. It was gone.
“They must have stopped bombarding us.”
“Yes.”
They kept going until they came to the end of the tunnel. The way was barred by a wooden door. He lifted the lever and pushed against the barrier, but it wouldn’t open.
“Crap,” he muttered.
“What’s wrong?”
“Something . . . I don’t know.”
Behind them, smoke billowed down the passageway, and he knew they didn’t have much time. They were far enough from the fire to keep from getting burned, but the smoke was thickening, and it was going to overcome them soon.
CHAPTER THIRTY
THE OTHER MAN had arrived. Tessa had heard Rafe tell him to wait a few minutes until he could open the gate. After that he went into his bedroom. Did he have some kind of special equipment in there? Was that where he controlled his defense system?
She waited until he left the room, then peeked out of her own doorway, watching his back as he strode down the hall and out of sight. A few minutes later he was back with his visitor.
After they went into the library, she waited again until the door closed. Then, taking another chance, she hurried into the bathroom next door where she’d hidden before.
When she heard furniture creaking, she figured the men had sat down. Was it safe to get closer to the door? And what would happen if the housekeeper or butler came along and found her?
She knew she was taking a big risk. Probably they’d run to Rafe and tell him they’d caught her eavesdropping. But he had made her think that she had to do it, for herself and for her sisters.
Still, her heart was pounding as she opened the bathroom door and looked into the hall. Just as she was about to step out, plump Mrs. Vincent bustled down the corridor. Tessa waited with her pulse pounding until the woman was out of sight. After another half minute, she tiptoed down the hall to the library.
“Can I get you a drink?” Rafe said, and she tensed, hoping he wasn’t going to call for someone to serve them.
“Bourbon on the rocks,” the visitor said.
Rafe’s footsteps came toward her, and she went rigid, but he was only crossing the room to close the door. Still, her hearing was excellent, and she followed his steps to the bar that she’d seen in the corner. Ice cubes clinked, followed by the sound of liquid being poured.
“Now that you’re here, I can tell you what I’m planning. The death of the Ionians,” Rafe said, and Tessa had to take her bottom lip between her teeth to keep from gasping.
Her head was spinning, and she steadied herself against the wall, stiffening her legs to keep from falling over.
Had she heard him right? No, that couldn’t be what he was planning.
More words came to her from the office.
“Is it necessary to destroy them?” the visitor asked. “I mean, you’ve got what you want, haven’t you?”
“I thought you wanted revenge.”
Sidestepping the question, the other man said, “For years, I was a man of peace.”
Rafe laughed. “No Minot is a man of peace.”
“Perhaps, but you can train yourself to behave in a more civilized manner.”
“I am what I am,” Rafe said with a finality that sent cold flowing through Tessa’s body all the way to her bones. He’d been tender with her. Now it sounded like he’d only been putting on an act to lull her into submission.
“I want her pregnant before I move on the others.”
She struggled not to react aloud. Pregnant with his child! Never in a million years. She had started to doubt him. He’d just given her proof of his true nature.
She needed to find out more, but she thought she had heard the important part. This man was planning to kill her sisters, and she had to warn them.
WITH her heart in her throat, Sophia watched Jason trying to push the door open.
“Get down,” he rasped. “Where the smoke is thinner.”
She crouched beside him, coughed, then asked. “Can I help you?”
“I doubt it.”
With dogged determination, he rammed his shoulder against the door, but still it didn’t give. Then he tried pulling inward.
“There’s a little movement,” he muttered.
He kept pulling and pushing, trying to make the damn thing open one way or the other. Finally with a heaving sound, the boards splintered and he crashed partway through.
Fresh air rushed in, and Sophia took a grateful gasp.
Jason peered out. Over his shoulder, Sophia stared at the outside world. The tunnel exit was in a wooded area, and she could see that a tree had fallen across the doorway.
He began tearing at the boards, throwing them into the tunnel behind them. Although Sophia wanted to help, there wasn’t room for two people to work there.
But she could see the demolition was having an effect. Soon there was an opening in the middle of the door that was probably big enough for her to crawl out.
“You first,” he told her. “But make sure the coast is clear.”
Sophia stuck her head out and looked around.
“Are we alone?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. I don’t think they’ll find us. We’re pretty far from the cabin, and there are trees and big rocks in the way.”
She eased her shoulder through the gap, then pushed upward, wiggling through the opening and half falling out onto the ground. For long moments she lay dragging in lungfuls of the untainted air.
Looking up, she expected to see Jason coming after her. He stuck his arm through, but his shoulders were too big to fit. Withdrawing, he began pulling at the boards again.
She could hear him coughing as he worked, and her heart leaped into her throat.
“Take a breath through the hole,” she called out.
He did as she suggested, then went back to trying to dismantle the door. Scrounging around for some way to help him, she found a large rock. But when she raised it to pound in the door, she stopped herself. If she started making noise, Cynthia and the others might find them. All she could do was wait with tension singing through her while Jason worked.
Finally he enlarged the opening enough for his shoulders to fit through.
When he disappeared again, she wanted to scream, but he reappeared quickly. “Stand back.”
After she did, he threw out the pack he’d dragged with him, even when he was half choked and blinded by smoke. Then he wiggled out, and she kept him from hitting the ground hard by easing him down.
&nbs
p; She crouched beside him, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding on tight. They rocked in each other’s arms, both thankful that they had made it out of the cabin and out of the tunnel.
After a quick kiss, she murmured, “I was so scared.”
“We’re safe now.”
“Do you have another car stashed somewhere?” she asked.
“Sorry.”
“I guess that was too much to hope for. What are we going to do?”
“For starters, we’ve got to get out of Sedona before they find us again. It was a mistake to stay here.”
“My fault. I should have realized they’d zero in on us.”
“Let’s not waste time on blame. We’ve got to focus on getting away.”
“Won’t they think we’re dead?”
“Not when there are no bodies inside the cabin. And not if we try to contact Tessa.”
He sat up, bringing her with him, and brushed dirt from her shoulder. “Burning the cabin didn’t work out quite the way I expected.”
“Did we have a better option?”
“No.”
“Okay, but . . .” She flapped her hand in frustration. “We still have no idea who took Tessa.”
“But we know where the guy lives. And we can find him. And find her.”
“Before it’s too late?”
“Too late for what?”
She swallowed. “I don’t know. But the Ionians do have some sense of the future, and I can’t help worrying that something horrible is going to happen.”
“We’ll stop it!”
The determined look on his face made her heart melt. He was doing this for her. For the Ionians. And they kept trying to stop him.
He started walking through the woods, and she followed him, glad that he knew where he was going.
“Did he drive her to Santa Barbara, do you think? Or did he fly?” Sophia asked.
“I don’t know. But we’re going to drive. Less chance of someone figuring out where we’re going.”
“What happens when we get there?” she asked as they skirted around a large boulder.
“I guess that will depend on what we can work out.”
She nodded, wishing they had some kind of concrete plan. But that would have to wait until they had a better idea of the situation.
Jason turned toward her. “When we get to the road, I’ll leave you somewhere safe and get a car.”
“How?”
He patted the backpack. “I brought more than a flashlight and water. I’ve got money—and credit cards in another name. Also a matching driver’s license.”
“You were prepared.”
“I guess it’s a Minot trait!”
“You’ve got more than Minot traits. You’re an extraordinary man who overcame his background.”
He shrugged. “You’ve heard of nature versus nurture?” “Of course.”
“My mother made the difference. Without her, I would have been like the rest of them.”
She had trouble believing that was the only factor, but she wasn’t going to argue. Not when their lives were in danger.
As they approached the road, he slowed. “Will you be all right alone?”
She wanted to say, “Yes.” But she heard herself say, “I wish I could come with you.”
“So do I. But I’ve got to make it fast. And I don’t have the strength to carry you this time.”
She pressed her hand to her mouth. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight. I don’t want to make this harder for you. How long will you be?”
“I’ll be back as fast as I can.” He got out a bottle of water and gave it to her.
She reached for him, and they clung together. She had the awful feeling that if he left her here, she was never going to see him again, but she didn’t voice the thought. Had he heard it anyway?
Finally, he eased away. “Let’s get you comfortable.”
He found her a place to sit that was sheltered from the road where she’d have her back to a tree trunk. Together they gathered a bed of leaves for her to sit on. When they were finished, he hugged her again before fading back into the woods.
Settling down, she leaned her head against the trunk and closed her eyes. She might be here for hours. There was no way of knowing.
At first she tried not to check her watch, but as time crawled by and the sun dipped low in the west, she started sneaking peeks at the dial. It would be dark soon, and she hadn’t been out alone at night since the incident on the road.
But that guy who’d assaulted her wasn’t even here. He’d taken Tessa to Santa Barbara—if Jason was right, which she didn’t even know. Still, going there seemed like their only option. Too bad they didn’t dare to join their minds until they were away from Sedona.
She pressed her back against the tree trunk, wishing she could get a little sleep, but she couldn’t doze off. And she couldn’t shake the notion that someone was stalking her as she listened to the wind in the trees and the sounds of branches crackling nearby. She tried to tell herself it was just little animals in the underbrush, until she realized she must be listening to footsteps moving closer.
The hairs on the back of her neck prickled as she peered into the darkness.
If it was Jason coming back, why didn’t he call out to warn her?
She sat as still as possible, her heart pounding, wondering if it would do any good to run.
When a black-clad figure glided into view, she gasped. It was Ophelia.
Scrambling to her feet, Sophia prepared to flee.
“Don’t. We’re not here to harm you.”
“ We?”
Eugenia stepped forward, and Sophia had to press her back against the tree trunk to keep from swaying.
“Are you here to drag me back to the spa? Where I won’t be under the influence of the evil Jason?” she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“No,” Eugenia answered.
“Then what? Kill me out here so I don’t cause you any more trouble?”
“We’ve had a close relationship since you were a little girl. You think I would do that?”
She turned her hand palm up. “I don’t know anymore. Not after the way Cynthia attacked us.”
Eugenia sighed. “A group of us is hoping you can find Tessa, and bring her back.”
As she tried to take that in, she asked, “How did you find me?”
Eugenia gave her a sympathetic look. “You’re nervous and upset, and you’re giving off enough vibrations to take down a major rock formation.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Most people wouldn’t pick them up.”
“But you’re not most people.” She looked at Ophelia. “A while ago, you were working with Cynthia, making my head feel like it was going to split open. Is she waiting around the corner?”
“No. She doesn’t know I’m not back at the spa. And she’ll be angry when she finds out I’m missing.”
“Why didn’t she find me?”
“She called in the incident at the cabin,” Eugenia answered.
“The incident!”
“And she’s busy with the fire marshal and the police.”
Sophia kept her gaze steady. “Why are you defying her?”
“Because we don’t want to leave one of our sisters in the hands of a Minot, and we think you have a chance of bringing Tessa back,” Eugenia responded. “You said three Ionians had disappeared. One was Jason’s mother, Julia. We don’t know anything about the others.”
“I thought you might.”
Eugenia shook her head.
“What about them?” Sophia asked.
“We need to know if they were . . . captives. Or if they lived happy lives.”
“With a Minot?”
Eugenia shrugged.
Sophia raised her chin. “I’m with a Minot.”
“Do you trust him?”
“Yes,” she answered immediately. “He could have left me. He could have hurt me. He could have tried to mess with my head. He hasn
’t done any of that. Instead he’s been trying to help us. And look what he’s gotten for his trouble.”
From the darkness, a deep, male voice said, “I’m glad to hear the vote of confidence.”
It was Jason. She ran to him and clasped him tightly, not caring what the other two women thought. “Thank the powers you’re back.”
“And I see two of your sisters have joined the party.” He pressed her against his side as he faced the other Ionians.
“Do you know where to find Tessa?” Eugenia asked.
“We think we know the city. That’s as far as we got.”
“We’d like to help you rescue her.”
Jason kept his voice even. “I think we have to find her first. And I think our best chance of that is if we’re alone. Because the more people involved, the more likely Cynthia will find us.”
Eugenia pressed her palms against her thighs. “I was hoping to go with you, but you may be right. If the four of us were together, Cynthia might be able to track us.”
“Thank you for not arguing,” Sophia said.
“But if you need our help, I hope you’ll ask for it.”
“Maybe,” Jason answered.
“I understand why you might not trust us.”
“At least you’re insightful.” Jason’s voice held the same sarcasm that Sophia hadn’t been able to repress earlier. He took her hand. “We’d better split.”
Without a backward glance, she walked with him out of the forest. When they reached the road, she saw the car he’d parked in a turnoff. It was a midsized Ford only a few years old.
They climbed in, and he headed away from town.
“Where did you get the car?” she asked.
He laughed. “Craigslist. For a nice fee, the guy agreed to keep it in his name for the time being.”
“Is that legal?”
“Well, I’m just borrowing it. He’s getting a good deal.”
They headed for Route Forty, then west.
“I think we can make Lake Havasu City,” Jason said.
Sophia had never been to the resort area, but many of the spa guests had spoken about it. Some had combined trips to the Seven Sisters with visits there. “Isn’t that almost two hundred and fifty miles away?”
“Yeah.”
“You can run fast, but if you try to do a hundred miles an hour on the road, you’ll get a speeding ticket. In a car that’s registered to someone else.”
